As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,477, issued to Robert K. Tendler on May 23, 1989, incorporated herein by reference, an emergency vessel or vehicle location system is described in which a mayday message is broadcast via conventional transceivers to all within the broadcast range, with the mayday message including the position of the stricken vessel or vehicle. The EVLS system described in the Tendler patent is not limited to vessels or vehicles but may be provided as a unit which is personally carried and is adaptable to hikers or military personnel regardless of their being in a vehicle or not.
One of the problems associated with such radios or modules is the provision of a protected emergency switch for activating the system. A protected switch, in the context of the subject invention, is one which requires two motions or two hands in order to achieve activation. This prevents accidental activation which would create intolerable incidences of false alarms.